Chapter 3 - Consequences.

V E L I N A

Johnny.

He stands near the far wall with the other men, arms at his sides, his brown eyes meeting mine, his expression wary as he watches everything unfold. For a brief moment our eyes meet and something inside my chest tightens.

Johnny is the only person in this entire family who ever treated me like I was an actual person. The only one who showed any decency when everyone else acted as if I did not belong here.

He was the one who carried me out of that meeting years ago when I took a bullet meant for my father.

He is the reason I survived.

And yet now he stands there quietly like everyone else, and he says nothing.

“Kyla, are you sure you do not need to go to the infirmary?” Rolando asks from somewhere behind me, and that's when I turn to watch as he assists Kyla in walking properly. She has an arm wrapped around him, and another wrapped around herself, as if she can barely stay upright just as her eyes finally meet mine.

"I’m... I'm fine..." She calls out and her voice sounds small and tired while she coughs lightly, playing the role of the wounded victim perfectly.

"The medics will be here any moment." Carmelo lets out just as Rolando nods in response, but Kyla still has her gaze on me.

"I... I just want to know why…" Kyla answers weakly as she stares back at me, her voice breaking as she begins to cry.

“Why would you do this to me, sister?” she continues softly. “All I’ve ever done is care for you...” She lets out as real tears roll down her cheeks.

I stare at her in pure disbelief, at how she is able to stand there and completely distort the truth, all to make herself look like a saint. 

“Kyla... stop this please… you know I didn’t do this… please tell them that you did, that it was all you...” I manage to say, tears already forming in my eyes, but she shakes her head slowly.

“Enough with your lies, Velina.” She answers and the room grows quiet after that.

I look around at the faces surrounding me, my brothers, my mother, the men who have worked for this family for years.

None of them look convinced. None of them look like they believe me.

The doors behind us open again and two women step into the room carrying a medical case between them. Both wear simple uniforms and gloves, their expressions calm as they approach.

“Please tend to my daughter,” my father orders the moment they appear.

“Of course, Don Russello,” one of them replies and they move straight toward Kyla without even glancing in my direction. Rolando helps her sit down on the nearest couch while the women begin examining her arm, cleaning the wound and wrapping it carefully while speaking to her in quiet reassuring voices. One of them even places an oxygen mask over her face.

I watch them from the floor while my own lungs continue to burn with every breath. 

How can they all be so cruel... 

“What are we going to do with her?” Rolando asks once he steps away from Kyla, his eyes settling on me with open disgust.

“Throw her out on the street. I cannot bear the sight of her any longer!” my mother snaps and I turn toward her immediately, finding pure hatred on her face, and for a moment, I struggle to understand how someone who once called herself my mother can look at me like that.

“You know we cannot do that,” my father answers after a pause. “She… is still our daughter.” He lets out, and the words sound strained, as if even acknowledging that fact is difficult for him.

“I didn’t do this, I promise,” I say quietly. “Please… please believe me… she’s lying…” I try to say but another strike cuts me off and pain explodes across my face as my head snaps to the side. My body trembles in fear as I slowly turn my head to face the person that struck me, my eyes soon landing on Carmelo as he stands over me, his fist still clenched at his side.

“Lie one more time and I’m leaving you unconscious,” he warns, his chest now heaving.

Tears spill down my cheeks again but I say nothing more, too fearful of what more they may do to me...

“Your punishment will be swift and brutal,” my father lets out, grabbing everyone's attention while looking down at me. “It seems you must be reminded of your place here. And I will make sure that you never do something like this again.” He explains and every word makes the fear in my stomach grow stronger.

“Take her to the cells,” he orders and the moment those words leave his mouth my entire body tenses.

The cells.

Everyone in this house knows what those are.

They sit beneath the mansion, hidden away in the underground level where my father deals with people who cross him. Prisoners are taken down there for interrogation, sometimes for days at a time, sometimes longer. People scream down there. People disappear down there...

And now he wants to send me there...?

“What? Father no, please!” I cry while struggling to my feet.

I try to move toward him but the men holding me grab my arms and yank me back before I can take more than a step.

“This will teach you not to attack your sister,” my father says simply as the men begin pulling me toward the hallway again.

My heart pounds so loudly I can barely hear anything else.

Then, a brand new voice breaks through the room.

“Boss!” The voice shouts in a panic and everything stops, everyone now turning to the man who has just rushed into the room.

“What is it?” my father asks sharply, a deep frown suddenly covering his features as he takes a few steps towards the man.

“There is gunfire at the main gate.” He suddenly says and I feel my heart sink to my feet. The words change the entire atmosphere of the room in an instant and every man present reaches for his weapon almost at the same time.

“Mobilise all our people,” my father orders immediately, his head snapping to all the soldiers.. “Protect my family at all costs.”

“They’ve already surrounded all the exits, sir,” the guard continues.

Within seconds the room erupts into movement. Men rush toward the doors, weapons drawn while others position themselves around my parents and siblings, forming a protective barrier... and leaving me completely vulnerable and unprotected.

My mother moves quickly to my father’s side, clutching onto his suit fearfully.

“Russello…” she says quietly, worry obvious in her tone as she glances around, her gaze landing on Rolando and Carmelo who have also taken out their guns, and are now standing protectively by Kyla who glances around in fear as she remains seated on the couch.

“It’s okay, my love… everything is fine…” he says, but he never finishes the sentence.

Gunfire erupts outside the front doors, and the sound is deafening inside the mansion. Then the doors burst open and bullets spray into the room, people shouting and calling out while diving for cover, some of them getting hit by flying bullets and screaming out in pain before collasping to the floor, dead...

I drop to the floor instinctively, my hands covering my head as chaos erupts around me, screaming out of fear of being killed by our attackers. But maybe this is how I go out. Death would certainly be much better than the life I'm forced to live now...

But before death can find me, the shooting stops as suddenly as it began...

Then... A voice speaks from the entrance once the gunfire stops.

“Do you know how easy it was to get onto your territory?” The voice says, deep, smooth and dangerously low, and the sound of it sends an unexpected chill through me.

Slowly I lift my head and that's when I see them... Men I don't recognise filling the doorway and the hallway behind them, all armed and all pointing their weapons into the room. They spread out quickly, surrounding the space while the surviving Merrano guards hesitate. 

"Men, stand down!" I then hear my father's voice call out as the rest of my family cowers together in fear. My mother stands frightened behind my father just as Rolando and Carmelo raise their weapons up in surrender while Kyla is now on her feet, standing behind them fearfully...

I turn back to the men that fill the room watching them carefully. Then, one of them stands ahead of the others, stepping forward calmly as if the very ground we walk on belongs to him... and I have no doubt that he is the man that spoke from before...

His hair is dark and glossy and he is extremely tall with a large, muscular build and broad shoulders, dressed in dark clothing that contrasts sharply with the polished marble floors beneath his feet. His grey eyes move across the room before settling on my father and for some reason, my attention focuses on him immediately.

“Don Luciano…” my father begins. "What is the meaning of this...?" He finally says, shock and recognition spreading across his face.

And something else...

Fear. Pure fear...

"Hello... Russello..." the man replies as a dangerous smile forms on his face. But after a moment... his gaze shifts, and those cold grey eyes move away from my father and focus completely on something else entirely...

Me.